George Russell says that his W14 Mercedes Formula 1 car took a step forward after the first free practice session, while Lewis Hamilton asserted that he went backwards.
At the start of the 2023 season, Russell has often been the more comfortable behind the wheel of the car.
Hamilton stated on Thursday in Australia that some set up changes that are being undertaken with the car feel like a “roll of the dice”, a claim that Russell refuted.
Russell ended FP2 in Melbourne as the fourth-fastest driver in a rain-affected session – but says he is pleased with the step he took.
“FP2 was obviously a little bit frustrating for everybody with the weather coming in, a little bit surprising,” he said.
“But it was a reasonable session for us, we definitely took a step from FP1, which is a good thing.
“Let’s see what tomorrow brings with the weather. There was a bit of rain in the area but it came in quite suddenly.
“I know there’s a bit of rain around tomorrow as well, so I’d be happy for things to be spiced up.
“We just made a lot of set up changes over the break. We’ve been doing some good steps recently, we’ve been changing quite a few things and getting the car into a nice window as the weekend progresses.
“That’s quite satisfying from [being] sat in the driver’s seat, knowing the car feels better and as a team, we’ve contributed towards that.
“We ended to see how it translates into tomorrow but definitely FP1 I wasn’t very happy with the car and FP2 I was pretty happy.”
But Hamilton says that he wasn’t so satisfied inside the cockpit.
“This morning was good, this afternoon wasn’t as good. As simple as that,” he said.
“It felt a little bit better this morning. We made some changes, and they didn’t work. We’ll revise those tonight and then it rained obviously. It wasn’t the greatest of sessions.”
Hamilton added that Mercedes should be aiming for fifth place ahead of qualifying, with Russell stating that it was a realistic goal for the team.
“I’d say that’s a fair assessment,” he said. “I think if we really pull everything together, the third row, probably between P5 and P8, I think is where we’re looking at the moment.
“Obviously not where we want to be as a team. We know we have got more to come in a couple of races time.
“But we just need to maximise our changes and have a similar weekend to what we had in Jeddah.”
